All I want is this
by animefanxxx
Summary: Their unique introduction led Ulquiorra and herself to become the closest of friends. But was that how he felt about her? She had bargained far more than she could comprehend and in time her feelings for him began to grow.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Yooooooooooooo! Hi everybody, this is my new story that is AU. I've altered the characters personalities slightly but not too much so hopefully you'll enjoy it! If you want the summary go to my profile and find the chapter name. Anyway, hope you enjoy! BTW I suck at summaries!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.**

**All I want is this **

**Chapter one – The Transfer Students**

Top honour student; Orihime Inoue

1st ranking in popularity; Orihime Inoue

After a few years of high school the impossible became possible. Not only had many unexpected changes happened to the school but the unexpected happened to certain people. Mainly to Orihime Inoue, Aged 19. Though she may have started off as a complete airheaded bimbo, she miraculously transformed into a completely new character. If possible one could say that her mind and soul was…reborn. No one knew exactly why she changed and what happened in between the time she went missing but there were rumours of such nonsense going around the whole of Karakura Town. Some said that she was visited by the ghost of her family whilst others said that an angel came to visit her during the 12th night of the 12th month on the 12th hour of the 12th second. Orihime was more than aware of the rumours going around but she made no move to stop it from spreading. What really happened was a secret that would be kept to herself. She'd forced herself to imprison it in the back of her mind so that no one could uproot it. Never the less it wasn't good to delve any further into the mystery. Orihime redirected her attention back to her teacher and the question that was being written down on the black chalk board. Today her brain didn't seem to be functioning properly, maybe she was ill? The flu was said to be going around at the moment.

The teacher's beady eyes singled out Orihime as the only person who wasn't listening, "Orihime. Could you answer the question?"

Orihime stood up and answered aloud, "Simply use the 'foil' method to work out the simplified form of the equation. In this case the answer would be x plus 5 brackets plus x minus negative 1."

A little shocked that Orihime could work out the answer so quickly the teacher quickly praised her, "Very good Orihime. You may sit."

Orihime obediently sat back down and went back to day dreaming out of the window. Now that she was ultra brainy, there really was no reason for her to pay any attention in class. Why bother when you knew almost all the answers?

The teacher drabbled on about the techniques and turned to the board to write some more equations up. Orihime honestly didn't know why she bothered, they did this in primary school, so why were they learning about this all again?

Misaki, the girl sitting on the right side of Orihime, nudged her in the ribs, "Wanna go out for a shopping spree after school?"

"Sure. Why not?" Orihime grinned. Misaki laughed quietly with delight, Orihime laughed alongside with her. _Boy this is gonna be long…_

Truthfully Orihime hated shopping. Unlike Misaki who was a totally crazed shopping girly girl, Orihime was the exact opposite but that was a good thing, it meant Orihime and Misaki had a stable and balanced relationship. Orihime could help Misaki refrain from spending _all_ of her savings whilst Misaki could advise Orihime get stuff that would be necessary. A shopping spree for Misaki was like a binge out in the biggest mall, for Orihime it was more like shop till you drop…_literally_.

"Yo Hime!"

Orihime swivelled around, "What now Renji?"

"Gimme the answer to question 15." Renji demanded with a frown on his face.

Ichigo on his left whacked him hard on the head with his textbook, "Leave Inoue alone."

"Aww come on man! She's ultra smart. I need her brains!"

"Work out your own damn answer." Ichigo snapped. The two began bickering quietly. Orihime ignored them and turned back to her sheet and began filling in the empty boxes next to the questions.

"Mind filling me in on the situations boys?"

Everyone snapped their heads in Ichigo and Renji's direction. The teacher was standing right in front of their desks and the situation didn't look good.

"Err… Ichigo said you were an old hag. I was merely defending your side."

"Renji you fat liar!" Ichigo shouted.

The teacher tried hard to ignore what Renji had said, "Enough! You can save your excuses in detention after school."

"Miss! That isn't fair! This is all Renji's damn fault."

" 'Damn' is a bad word. You say that again I'll make you pay up £2 in the swear box."

Renji burst out in a fit of laughter and pointed a shaky finger at the orange head, "You got owned!"

The teacher glared, "The same will apply for you Abarai if you continue with this childish behaviour."

Orihime sighed quietly. Every day was like this where the teacher in the end never got any work done but it was quiet entertaining to watch the students retort back to the teachers. Sometimes if you got lucky you could watch a fight break out and usually the head master got involved. There was a loud crash; Orihime figured that Ichigo must have tackled Renji to the ground.

"Go! Go! Go!" Ikkaku cackled from the front corner of the classroom.

"I think this is very stupid. They're fighting over rubbish but I think that Ichigo will win this." Yumichika sighed.

Ikkaku snorted, "Nah! He's too much of a pussy to actually hurt Renji in school in front of the teacher. I vote Renji! If you lose Yumichika you owe me £20!"

"£20! No way! Ichigo! You're not strangling hard enough!" Yumichika shrieked.

"Stop this violent behaviour now! Both of you!" The teacher snapped. Everyone ignored her and carried on cheering for either Ichigo or Renji.

"Punch him in the dick Renji!" Ikkaku shouted across the room. He was currently standing on his chair but was displeased that his view of the two fighting was blocked so he moved to higher ground – On the teacher's desk.

The teacher caught Ikkaku clambering onto her table treading onto her neatly piled paperwork, "Get of my desk!"

The whole class was in chaos and much too preoccupied to listen to the teacher. Orihime began having a headache. "Shut up.", she moaned. Nobody heard her not even the teacher who was currently sorting out her papers after finally removing Ikkaku of them.

"Shut up."

Yet again no one heard. The teacher ran past her to try and remove Ichigo off Renji. Misaki turned back to Orihime, "Who you rooting for?"

Orihime ignored her and walked to the black chalk board and then placed her fingernails firmly on it before dragging them down slowly creating a loud horrible spine chilling noise to which everyone stopped shrieking, screaming or shouting in order to cover their ears. Orihime removed her hand and turned to the class who were all moaning, "I said shut up. That's what you get for not listening."

The teacher and Misaki looked at her in disbelief and then looked at the black board which had the remaining results of Orihime's finger nail marks. The bell rang meaning that it was lunch break. Orihime packed her bag making sure she swung it over her shoulder casually and walked out the classroom as if nothing happened.

Misaki trailed after her, "Hime! Wait!"

"I'm going to the library go and eat you lunch, I'll meet you in the playground later."

"Oh, okay. I'll see you later." Misaki waved.

Orihime waved back without turning around.

The library was just up ahead where it was nice and quiet it was also very big, so big it could pass for a _shopping mall_. It was Orihime's favourite spot because hardly anyone went there and obviously the librarian, Mrs Danvers, was extremely nice to her.

Mrs Danvers was short but she was extremely old and fragile; Orihime considered her to be a grandmotherly figure. Orihime opened the doors and the scent of fresh books wafted out. It was a large library with red carpeting down the middle and several very tall wooden bookshelves about 50 meters tall that stood up on their own like pillars. The library was designed to have a mirrored effect so there were several book shelves on each side of the room including the ones that were backed up against the walls. At the very back of the room was a large glass window with red curtains drawn to the side also 50 meters and surely enough Mrs Danvers came out from behind one of the book shelves.

"Hello Mrs Danvers." Orihime waved.

Mrs Danvers smiled creating several wrinkles on her old and ancient face, "Why, if it isn't my little princess." Her silvery hair was tied up in a tight bun as usual. "What brings you here?" she turned back to slotting books in the shelves.

"The usual. Ichigo and Renji were fighting again." Orihime dumped her bags behind the circular counter that stood bang in the middle of the room. Mrs Danvers chuckled slightly. Orihime strolled up to where the old lady was. "Need any help?"

"No, it's alright. We have some new books that just came in; they're on the very bottom shelf of the 5th stand in the right side of this room. You can check them out." Mrs Danvers continued to slot in more books. The 5th stand was the one by the window so there was quite a long way to walk, today Orihime didn't really feel like walking so she went to the shelve behind Mrs Danvers and ran her finger along the spines of the books. All the shelves were always full of books, whether it was old or new books the shelves were never empty and were always loaded. It was a good thing, lots of books meant Orihime had a lot more to learn and more things to keep herself entertained with. Since Mrs Danvers worked here at a very young age, she'd practically read every book in the library. There was probably more than 2 million books altogether. Orihime had only started coming here when she was in this school for a second year so she still had many books to go.

"Looking for anything particular my dear?"

Orihime stood up straighter and turned around, "Not really."

Usually when Orihime came here it was either to escape the noisy hallways, classrooms and sports grounds or it was to read a good book. When it was neither, Mrs Danvers made tea with either sugar or lemon for the both of them and offered food like marshmallows. Orihime enjoyed staying after school with Mrs Danvers; she was like family.

"I'll switch on the kettle. Sugar or lemon?"

Orihime chewed on her bottom lip, "Hmmm. I feel like some citrus today, I'll have lemon."

"A good choice. The lemons this month are sweet." Mrs Danvers slowly waddled to the counter. Orihime smiled and continued looking at the spines of the books.

"Take a look on the higher shelves, it might have something of your interests." She suggested.

"Alright." Orihime pulled the ladder over and began climbing. Most people were afraid to climb the library ladder all the way to the top because of their fear of heights, Orihime wasn't, she adored it. The only problem was that when you wanted to move across the shelves you had to climb back down all those steps and move the ladder along before climbing back up. It was a pain in the butt; Mrs Danvers thought so too and got the ladder installed with small wheels that moved across the shelves.

Orihime pulled out a violet book and flipped through the pages, unsatisfied with the contents she shut the book and slotted it back into place and moved the ladder across a few more centimetres.

As she moved along she read aloud all the titles of the books until she came across one of her childhood favourites, "The Wizard of Oz." Orihime pulled it out so she could take a look at the front cover, smiling when she saw the glittery red shoes.

"That one is a very old book. It was my favourites when I was younger."

Orihime looked down to find Mrs Danvers holding two cups of freshly made tea with a thick lemon slice floating on the surface. The old lady was smiling as she looked up to Orihime.

"It was, was it?" Orihime said as she began climbing down with the book in her hand.

"Of course. It was a magical story. I'm sure that you'll encounter some of the characters in your life. I most certainly did. I also adored Alice in wonderland."

"So did I! I liked the Cheshire cat." Orihime exclaimed as she jumped of the ladder. Mrs Danvers held out one of the teacups, Orihime took it and brought it to her lips for a small sip, "It's delicious."

"I'm glad you like it. Take the book with you, Misaki will probably be looking for you."

"Ah, I forgot about that." Orihime began gulping her tea down, luckily it wasn't too hot, just the way she liked it. Mrs Danvers smiled proudly at Orihime; it was hard to believe that such a shy weak girl could change into something so confident and independent. "Thanks for the tea Mrs Danvers." Orihime said as she handed back the empty tea cup.

"I told you, you can call me 'granny'."

"But that would be disrespectful, wouldn't it?"

"I don't think it would. I insist you stop the formal speech."

"Alright. I'll be going then…Granny." It felt a little weird calling her by that name but it did seem to fit. Orihime went back to the counter and grabbed her bags. Mrs Danvers followed and carefully set the tea cups down as she watched Orihime rush out the large wooden oak doors. "Have a nice day." She whispered.

"Where were you?" Misaki snapped as Orihime appeared from the classroom doors.

"Sorry. I stayed in the library for a while." She panted. Orihime began walking towards the sports field Misaki trailed behind making loud complaints.

"You _adore_ that library! You need to stop being such a book worm and learn to have some fun!"

"I do have fun. But I just like it in the library because it sets my heart at peace. It's good to put your foot up and read a good book one in a while."

Misaki snorted, "What books? I bet you read the books about the human anatomy or the one with algebraic equations. That's probably how you're so clever!"

Orihime laughed, "No. I just read normal books. That reminds me, look what I found." Orihime pulled out 'The Wizard of Oz' from her bag and held it in front of Misaki's eyes.

"The Wizard of Oz? You still read that crap?"

Orihime held the book defensively against her chest, "It's not crap. It's just something where you can imagine a fantasy world." Orihime opened the doors and inhaled a deep breath of fresh air.

"Orihime. Please. I'm begging you to just be normal for 5 seconds."

"I am normal. I'm just someone who enjoys reading books."

"Whatever. Anyway. Have you heard the news?" Misaki flumped down onto the grass and pulled out her Bento box from her bag.

"What news? The one about Miss Smith getting married to Mr Black?" Orihime asked as she sat down with her feet outstretched on the grass besides Misaki. She too took out her bento from her bag and placed it on her lap before taking out a pair of chopsticks, ripping open the lid of her bento and digging into the rice, "So good."

"No. The news about the transfer students."Misaki watched as Orihime stuffed mouthfuls of food into her mouth. "Boy are you hungry."

Orihime ignored her comment and chewed a little more slowly whilst trying to swallow the whole lump of food, "Transfer students?" she said through a mouthful of rice.

"Don't talk with your mouth full. Yeah, they're coming from America."

Orihime shoveled another clump of sticky rice into her mouth. "That'll be interesting." she said as she ate a piece of omelet.

Misaki hit her on the head, "I said don't talk with your mouth full."

Orihime ignored her but stopped eating, "When do they arrive?"

"Today, after lunch." Misaki opened her bento and speared a tomato with her chopsticks before taking a small nibble.

"Just eat it whole would you? You can't get fat from eating tomatoes."

"Well you're lucky. No matter how much you eat you'll still stay as skinny as a pixie stick. Take a look at me. I'm so fat!"

"Because I exercise. You're not fat. You're normal."

"Sometimes I wonder how you stay so slim at the same moment you have big boobs. It's not fair!" Misaki fumed.

Orihime put her bento down, "Misaki, I didn't want big breasts, they just get in the way. Believe me I'd rather be flat chested."

"You don't know how lucky you are. You're an idol now and it's thanks to those whoppers!"

Orihime picked up her bento again; there wasn't any point in debating with Misaki. She could go on forever with plenty of good reasons, that's why she got good scores in foreign debating. True Orihime could beat Misaki in debating but sometimes Orihime admired Misaki's confidence and skill in languages.

"No. It's just down to working hard consistently." She muttered.

"What?"

"Nothing." Orihime shoveled some more rice into her mouth. "I better get prepared to greet these transfer students. Besides, soon enough the whole school will want to eat lunch with us when they find out I'm here."

"You can eat my lunch. I'm not hungry."Misaki offered after looking at Orihime's disappointed expression when she found there was no more food in her bento.

"Nah. You eat it or you'll starve!" Orihime packed her bags and stood up. She'd just spotted the cheerleading squad running towards their direction. Without doubt they'd be pestering Orihime to join their club.

"Misaki looked up, "Leaving so soon!"

"Yep, I think the cheerleading squads have just spotted me. Bye!" Orihime legged it all the way to the school's main building. With luck Misaki would be able to tell some sort of lie to hold back the cheerleaders. Without looking where she was going she ran straight into what she thought was a pole and it had caused her to land on her bum with a loud 'thump', her hand had reacted slightly slower and so had also hit the ground and took some damage.

"Oooooowwww…" Orihime had her eyes closed to help bear with the pain.

"Are you okay?" a low voice asked.

Orihime's eyes fluttered open and found a pair of long legs in front of her, carefully she worked her way up to someone's face, however the sun was blocking her sight and so she just saw a black figure. "Yeah…I should be fine." she answered as she jumped up and dusted her skirt and her hands.

"I should get going now." The mysterious person said.

"Oh really, I haven't even said thanks to you yet." Orihime looked up and the person was already gone. _Was he a figment of my imagination? _She wondered.

"Yo Hime!"

Orihime spun around to see Rangiku walking on the sidewalk with Nel, "Hey guys." She waved.

"We just wanted to see how you were doing. It seems like you're handling being the school president fine." Rangiku flipped her ginger hair back so that it gracefully curled over her shoulder.

"Yeah. After a week of nearly being trampled over by the cheerleading squad and a week of suffering complaints from the girl's baseball team I think I should be okay."

"You've had it tough. Why couldn't you just be more like us? All we do is flirt with the boys from the rugby club." Nel chimed.

"Nel… You know my situation. I can't be like you, remember?"

"No."

Orihime sighed, "This school only gives places to people who have a lot of money and can afford to pay the monthly tuition, it's rare that someone as poor as me would get in."

Nel was confused, "What's that got to do with anything? And if your poor how did _you_ get in?"

Orihime sighed again, "Because you have to be ultra smart to get in. Remember? Anyone who passes over 97% in all their exams can go through."

"Oh yeah!" Nel squealed.

"I can't believe you forgot Nel!" Rangiku placed her hand on her hip.

"You know me! Always forgetting things…" Nel smiled and tapped her head.

"That's right. She wouldn't be Nel if she wasn't like this." Orihime laughed as she ruffled Nel's sea green hair.

"Hime. You're too nice to this baby here." Rangiku sighed pointing at Nel. Nel's bottom lip trembled slightly.

"I'm the president. I have to be nice and I want to be nice. Anyway, I have to go. I've got to pick up the new transfer students from the reception."

Rangiku nudged Nel in the hips, "Oooooo. Transfer students! Nel put on your lipstick!"

Nel smiled and nodded in agreement before she reached into her skirt pocket for her lipstick Rangiku did the same and both hastily applied the shiny stuff onto their lips. Orihime rolled her eyes and walked off into the school's main building unnoticed. On her way she passed the usual people in that area, just a couple of boys drooling over her and some girls who approached her for an autograph. She _hated_ it when she had to walk past these people mainly because she knew that they only wanted to be her best friend because she was clever but partially because they were stupid. Most of this high school was full of rich students who were brainless; there were only a few of Orihime's kind who got in by pure intelligence, like Ichigo Kurosaki who was considered king of the school since he was both rich and clever.

Orihime remembered one time they had a prom and she was elected the schools queen whilst Ichigo was elected as King and the pair were humiliated because they were made to dance together. After that, people assumed they were in a relationship and the newspaper club made a fake article about them. Even worse was a rumor spread by the Ichigo fan club was that Orihime had lost her virginity to Ichigo. Luckily Rangiku, Nel and Misaki had their ways of dealing with them. To Orihime, Ichigo was like her older brother Sora who died a few years ago.

Miss Alexander caught sight of Orihime, "Ah. Miss Inoue. The transfer students are waiting in the reception, you may want to take them in now since the end of lunch isn't until 2:00pm."

"I understand." Orihime bowed slightly and headed into the office doors.

"Oh and Miss Inoue…"

Orihime poked her head out, "Yes Miss Alexander?"

The teacher pushed her glasses up the same way Ishida Uryu did and lowered her head slightly, "You may want to be careful."

Orihime gave her a confused look as she walked off to the teacher's staffroom. _You may want to be careful?_ Orihime thought for a moment and then shrugged her shoulders before poking her head back in where she set eyes on a tall boy with blue hair. He had the top part of his shirt unbuttoned to reveal a bit of his well built chest and his tie hung around his neck loosely, the bottom part of his shirt was partially tucked but most un-tucked. Orihime stared at him for a while, not for his messiness but because of his height. Man was he huge! Then her eyes averted to a shorter boy with black hair, his style was more or less the same as the tall blue headed one but he looked more…emo-ish? Both didn't know she was in their presence.

"Batman. Where on earth is this president?" The blue headed boy asked as he sat down on the sofa.

The so called 'batman' turned to look out the window and put his hands in his pocket, "How should I know?"

The blunette sighed and laid his body back onto the sofa, "What's his name?"

Orihime found this a perfect opportunity to cut in, "I am the President. Orihime Inoue, at your service."


	2. Two Bets in a Day

**A/N: Hello! In case you're asking if I'd forgotten or given up on this chapter. I HAVE NOT! I just wanted to finish this chapter before I'm whisked off to China. Just enjoy this whilst you still can.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach!**

**All I want is this **

**Chapter 2 – Two Bets in a Day**

Azure and emerald eyes swivelled to meet silver orbs. Silver orbs stared back to fire and Ice. Neither of them said anything until the ivory skinned one spoke, "You're the president?" The tone in his voice was slightly offensive which Orihime found annoying, "I am. Is there a problem with that?"

The blue headed one stared at her curiously and then his lips broke into a grin that slashed across his face, "No. It's just I've never seen a _female_ president before. Let alone a female leader."

Orihime found that comment even more offensive than the ivory skinned one, "Ever heard of Margaret Thatcher?"

The blue headed one looked a little confused and turned to the ivory skinned one who replied, "The first female Prime Minister of Britain in 1979."

"Precisely! At least _someone_ did their research." Orihime said sarcastically as she rolled her eyes back to the azure coloured haired man who growled in return.

"Before I was rudely interrupted by my companion here, I was meant to say that I find it hard to believe someone as clumsy as you is the president." The ivory skinned one said monotonely.

"What makes _you_ have the right to think _I'm_ clumsy?" Orihime said indignantly. They had just met. What gave him the right to judge her by her appearance alone?

"You bumped into me on the way here."

"I bumped into _you_?" Orihime raised an eyebrow.

The ivory skinned man turned his body all the way round, "I believe so. That orange head of yours would be hard to mistake."

The azure headed man started sniggering at the comment his transfer partner had implied. Orihime kept her cool, "You were the one who knocked me over in the pathway?"

"Affirmative."

"What were you doing wondering around the school then?"

"Merely looking around the place out of boredom from waiting for you." He said monotonely.

Orihime held her ground, "As the president, I have lots of duties to fulfil. Surely you know that?"

There was no answer from the two, Orihime placed her hands on her hips, "I don't think you've introduced yourselves to me."

The azure man spoke first, "Grimmjow Jeagerjaques, best footballer and king of players back at Okinawa High." The tone in his voice was confident. Orihime raised an eyebrow, Grimmjow sneered and added more, "I also like _dominant_ women."

Orihime snorted and rolled her eyes. The ivory man went next, "Ulquiorra Schiffer." He stuck his hands in his trouser pockets. Again Orihime raised an eyebrow. Was that it? A name was given but it could hardly pass for an introduction.

Grimmjow noticed the smug look on the girls face and nudged Ulquiorra in the ribs, "Ain't you gonna tell her about your brains?"

"Why should I? She has no business with me."

Orihime interrupted, "Tell me what?"

Grimmjow looked back at her and smirked, "This guy here," he pointed at Ulquiorra with his thumb, "Is a fucking genius."

Orihime raised an eyebrow, "Oh really? Why would that be?"

"He's won at least over 1000 competitions all of them to do with how clever people are. He competed with the top 10 most intelligent children in the world at the age of 3. At the age of 4 he spoke more than 500 languages, memorized the whole periodic table and knows at least 100 figures of Pi. He was the top academic student of Okinawa high and the best at sports." Grimmjow paused and looked back up at Ulquiorra, "Am I missing anything out?"

"Yes. Since the age of one I was discovered to be a music prodigy and I can memorize at least 600 words in a piece of text. My IQ is 260 and I'm considered the cleverest person alive." He stated in a bored tone.

Orihime didn't believe it; she thought they were playing a practical prank on her because if you thought about it logically why would a clever person come to this school? Why not go to University or study abroad? "Riiiiiiiight."

Ulquiorra heard the tone in her voice that told him she didn't believe it for a second, "You don't believe me do you?"

"No." Orihime spluttered out, "Who in the right mind would believe you?"

"Then I shall prove the truth to you."

Grimmjow gaped slightly. Orihime snorted, "How are you going to do that?"

"Simple. I shall compete with you throughout this week. We shall see who can fight for their place at the top of the score boards…" he said monotonely.

Orihime focused her eyes on his expression, "But… there's a glitch to this isn't there?"

"Well spotted. I don't like to go unrewarded. Whomever loses shall pay the victor a hefty amount of cash."

Grimmjow cackled out loud and jumped of the sofa to pat his companion on the back, "You've got this in the bag!"

Orihime grinded her teeth together and narrowed her eyes, "Name the amount of money."

Ulquiorra shoved Grimmjow out of his face, "£20,000."

"£20,000!" Orihime laughed as it were some kind of sick joke. Grimmjow approached the ivory skinned man to wham him on the back again.

"Correct." Ulquiorra answered as he kicked Grimmjow back onto the sofa before he could reach him.

"Are you crazy? Do you think I have that kind of money?"

Ulquiorra frowned for a moment and then sighed, "I see now. You are one of those scholar students. Just as I had originally thought."

Orihime grounded her molars together, a habit she liked to do when she was angry.

"Well then what kind of bet would you like to propose?"

"She's a scholar student! Wow she must be a fucking tramp!" Grimmjow exclaimed. Orihime kept her foot glued to the ground as hard as she could to refrain from punching the blue headed giant, she turned back to Ulquiorra, "I'll take any bet apart from something that involves money."

Ulquiorra turned to Grimmjow and asked, "Jeagerjaques. You make up a bet."

"Oh good. I was hoping to make it a sick one." He tapped his fingers together like an evil scientist. Orihime waited for his response and then finally his face lit up, "Whoever loses will become the winner's personal maid or butler."

Ulquiorra's expression was plain, "That's sounds okay with me."

Orihime placed her hands on her hips, "Sounds good." Then she noticed the way the blue headed giant grinned, and she wasn't sure that she trusted that grin especially his little introduction early on. "However I will not be forced to do anything _inappropriate_."She added trying not to look into Grimmjow's crystalline eyes.

"I wouldn't _dream_ of doing such a thing. It's only _him_ who has dirty thoughts." Ulquiorra pointed towards Grimmjow who leered at Orihime. No doubt trying to imagine explicit thoughts of what he could do with her chest.

"Now that this stuff is sorted out we can move onto the tour of the school." Orihime turned to leave the waiting room half expecting the two jerks to follow.

"That won't be required."

She turned around, "Pardon?"

"I don't like to repeat myself but for your sake I will. We do not require a tour around this school. I've seen more than enough and I'm sure I can find my way around…alone."

Orihime huffed, "Is that so?"

"Absolutely."

She smiled maliciously as she slowly approached them, "Well then let me tell you this, boys…" she stood in front of Ulquiorra, their feet just touching on the tip. He wasn't that much taller than her and she wasn't frightened or the least intimidated by his… pale face and unusually large green eyes. Grimmjow stared intently at the two of them and his jaw nearly fell to the ground when Orihime tiptoed so she could be around the same height as Ulquiorra. He swore she was going to kiss him when suddenly she grabbed Ulquiorra by the collar and put on a face that made it look like she was going to eat the emo alive. Slowly she finished the rest of her sentence in a silent deadly whisper, "…I am the schools president and it is my job to show you around-"

Grimmjow backed away further into his seat and, if possible, shrivelled up into a smaller form upon seeing the look on Orihime's face, "Dude. This girl is freakin' retarded."

Orihime tilted her head over to wear Grimmjow sat, "You say something?"

He didn't dare cross the line any further. "No! Of course not babe!"

Orihime's eye widened, "Did you just call me 'babe'?" the grip on Ulquiorra's collar tightened but the ivory skinned man named emotionless as usual. Not fazed one bit by Orihime's dark aura.

Grimmjow just managed to catch the hiss in her voice and opted for the wise choice of lying, "No." He rolled his eyes and then caught Orihime's devil like expression. "_God_ no!" he added trying the best he could to save his life.

Slowly she turned her glare back to Ulquiorra, "Being president means I _have_ to show you around. You have no say in the matter."

Ulquiorra was far more concerned about the collar of his shirt than his life, "Would you mind letting go of my collar, you'll crease it. I also think that this is a very immature way to greet new students."

Orihime glared at him long and hard until he finally agreed. She released his shirt allowing him to brush it smooth again and then she turned to the door. It wasn't like she wanted to show them around but she couldn't risk them getting lost and then complaining to the teacher. It was her job to make sure that the teachers weren't bothered by foolish things because this school had a strict policy. Orihime like her job and she rather not be replaced from it.

The only people that were allowed to be carefree were the Espada's. They were the richest and highly intelligent students who had the life of luxury during school. Each Espada had been given numbers according to how rich they were, currently the 6th and 4th place were available. Often the Espada ditched class and drank tea or whatever was related to not working but it didn't seem like the special teachers cared at all. Naturally Orihime had been offered a special place to join the Espada as number 0 but she had rejected for obvious reasons. She hated the bloody rich bastards, they were snobby, arrogant and pure lazy.

As Orihime led the way, casually walking down the grand hallways, she noticed how some girls were practically drooling over the two transfers. Ulquiorra remained plain and emo like, completely ignoring the fact that within a week he'd be getting a lot of love letters whilst Grimmjow was winking and blow kissing as well as making gestures such as 'call me', taking advantage of that very same fact. It wasn't long before practically the whole school was following the three students out of curiosity or because of the rumours that had spread around the school like wildfire. Somehow the rumours in this school were always extremely… extreme. Orihime remembered that when she had transferred the rumours going on about her transfer was about who she was; somehow words had got out that she was a supermodel from France. Apparently not, but most of the boys thought she was cute anyway.

Behind her she could hear Grimmjow growling in satisfaction as some girls with blond hair and blue eyes winked at him, "Damn Batman! If only we knew there were so many pretty girls here, woulda sighed up for this school years ago!"

Misaki barged through the crowd and leaped in front of Orihime, "Yo Hime!"

Orihime stopped in her tracks, "Misaki!"

"Surprised to see me?" the brunette smiled suggestively.

"No." Orihime said sharply. "If you don't mind, I have to get these two jerks," she jabbed a finger over her shoulder, "to their classes."

Misaki looked behind her best friends shoulder. Grimmjow caught sight of the brunette and winked causing a whole load of girls to squeal. Misaki purred, "Orihime. Who is that _sexy_ boy?"

Orihime snorted, "What sexy boy?"

Misaki hit her best friends arm playfully, "Oh come on now! Don't keep him all to yourself!" she focused her eyes back to the blunette who was looking up other girls and whistling. "The one with the blue hair."

Orihime sighed, "Go ask him yourself." It wasn't Misaki's fault she was like the other girls. Orihime blamed it on the stupid hormones.

"Man will I! He's my type." Misaki purred again licking her lips.

The auburn head chuckled ignoring the girls rising voices, "You look like you'll eat him alive."

"I'll eat him up if I have to get him away from any women." She scowled as she watched Grimmjow slap Ruka's butt.

Orihime pulled a face of disgust knowing full well what her hormone driven friend was babbling on about, "That's nasty Misaki."

"Boys like him should be in Hollywood movies." She kept her blue crystal eyes locked onto the unusually tall man and then she noticed Ulquiorra standing casually by the side, "Who's that one?"

Orihime snorted again, "That's a perfect example of someone who is mentally unstable."

Her best friend ignored her snide comment and smirked, "He's not much of a bad looker himself."

Orihime turned her head to her best friend in disbelief, "Him?"

The brunette continued to stare intently at Ulquiorra, "I can definitely imagine him in _bed_."

Orihime gagged slightly, "Misaki. That's just disgusting. _He's_ disgusting." She never would have thought that the so called prodigy loner was a hit amongst girls. He lacked manliness and muscle not to mention good looks. The strange thought of millions of women queuing up just to get in his pants was slightly disturbing. If she didn't know any better he wouldn't even be screwing someone up, he'd probably be mooching around like a loner with no life.

"You have no taste in men!" Misaki pouted. Orihime flapped a hand dismissively. Right now her task was to get the two men away from the hormone driven girls that seemed to be engulfing them like vultures. Orihime pushed her way through the gathering girls in order to 'rescue' the stranded men. Never had any transfer students given her this much trouble before and she could already feel like it was a long day…

**…**

"I got Grimmy's number!"

Orihime shifted away from her best friend's hyperactive voice. It was almost deafening when Misaki shrieked like that, "Misaki! Keep it down, this isn't an amusement park."

"I don't care. Grimmy gave me his number!" she squealed holding up a small piece of paper with a load of random numbers in front of Orihime's face. "Although he gave some other girls his number too…" she growled slightly.

Orihime slotted the book she had been holding back into one of the shelves, "Grimmy?"

Misaki grinned devilishly, "Yeah. That's my nickname for him."

Pulling out another book, Orihime flipped through the contents and sighed disinterestedly not looking up from her book, "Oh really?"

"And believe it or not he said I was his type!"

Orihime shut the book and wedged it back into the shelves before turning to Misaki with a smug look on her face, "Misaki, that man's type is any girl with decent tits and a rounded ass. In any case he's probably looking for fuck buddy."

The younger immature girl frowned at Orihime's harsh language. "How would you know?" she asked bluntly.

Orihime folded her arms. "He's a player. You saw him down in the hallways. Slapping Ruka's butt and letting Hikaru grind her hips against him. It's almost disgusting to even talk about it." She shuddered as she recalled the dirty man slipping his hand underneath someone's skirt. Within the 4 hours Orihime had already caught the little perv doing some unacceptable things in the school premises. In her mind it was shameful that the girls would lower themselves to such an extent. "Men like that are no good."

Mrs Danvers suddenly appeared from behind one of the bookshelves, "Orihime's right you know…"

Misaki turned around to see the old lady smiling at the two, "Danny!"She ran up to the old lady and hugged her. Orihime rolled her eyes; it was as if Misaki didn't notice Mrs Danvers when she walked into the library. Her best friends loved calling Mrs Danvers 'Danny', short for Danvers and it sort of stuck. Just like the relationship Orihime shared with the ancient lady Misaki too shared a similar bond with the old woman. Both were very fond of the granny like figure.

"Misaki, as hyper as usual." The old lady smiled as she stroked the young girl's brunette hair. "It's been a while since you came here to read."

"Well you know me Danny. Always busy chasing after the ball."

"I assume you're still in the baseball club then?"

Silently Misaki mumbled a reply, "Yeah."

It had been a while. When they were all younger Orihime and Misaki often stopped by the library to read. You could say that was how their friendship blossomed magnificently into very close friends; similar to those who were twin sisters. No one else shared the same bond as the two, making them unique in a special way. During the times they were in the library Mrs Danvers was more obliged to treat them like her own grandchildren. It wasn't until they were older that Misaki chose a slightly different path to follow; nevertheless they were all still very close.

Mrs Danvers smiled again at the two and turned to leave, "Well I'm going to put the kettle on. Is there anything you want?"

The auburn head looked at the brunette questioningly and then they both answered like the timing of twins, "No thanks."

"Okay. Have fun girls…"

Misaki waved goodbye and then turned to Orihime, "So you were saying…"

Gently Orihime began explaining, careful not to hurt her friends feelings, "I'm just saying people like Grimmjow aren't good for you. They'll end up breaking your heart." Misaki was easily prone to things like this. Injuries, bullies but worst of all, heartbreaks. She was very immature, perhaps not so innocent but too soft for her own good. It was natural that boys would want to date her but then again it was also natural that at some point she'd get on their nerves and get dumped.

Orihime wouldn't be surprised if Grimmjow asked her to be his girlfriend and then dump her, it was almost like a daily routine and she'd grown accustomed to staying up late at night with Misaki, binging on chocolate whilst trying to comfort her bestie as she bawled her eyes out and made a speech about how she did everything for 'him'. After seeing this scene more than once Orihime had chosen not to date until she was older, she was taking extra precautions and though she tried to convince Misaki to do the dating for later on, the brunette was stubborn as usual and ignored her.

Misaki snorted and jabbed her friend hard on the shoulder, "How would you know? You've never been in a relationship. You're too careful, not wild enough."

"Because I don't want to_ be_ in a relationship."Orihime countered.

"Ha!"

Orihime nudged Misaki, "Come on. You know me. That's just who I am." The two began making their way over to another shelf of books in the far corner.

"I bet you don't want to be in a relationship because you can't get a boy." The cheeky blue eyes narrowed down to catch Orihime's expression. Misaki could almost laugh with glee when Orihime turned a shade of red either out of jealousy or embarrassment. She grinned, "Well?"

"I can get any boy I want!" Orihime replied indignantly. Misaki always did this, wind her up and then make her do crazy thing without her realising it.

"Prove to me that you can then because I don't believe you." A smirk played on the brunette lips as she anticipated her best friends answer.

"Saki," Orihime liked to use her best friend's nickname when she became desperate, "I don't want to do this. Last time we made a bet we ended up in hospital!" Orihime recalled waking up all flimsy in a room of white, it wasn't until she was wider awake that she felt a needle injected into her arm which wasn't the best feeling in the world for the morning. Later that same day she realised she'd broken her leg and she didn't know how or when but she did know that she was going to be in trouble and surely enough the police came. Orihime was almost certain she'd be in prison, luckily the school had stuck up for them.

"So?"

"We destroyed a hot spring! They charged us £26,000 for repair!" Orihime blurted out.

In fact, Misaki had been a little bit naughty and made a bet with Orihime that if she could drink three shots of Sake she'd stop bullying Orihime about her breasts. Orihime was more than happy to oblige into the little game, Misaki had always taunted about her friends breast and it was getting on her nerves. Furthermore this was on a school trip to the hot springs (they went there annually), thus explaining how it was the hot spring that was destroyed and not something else.

"Who cares? My dad paid it off, no biggie."

Orihime gawked at her best friends, "Saki, £26,000 for you is no biggie because your dad owns a company and gives you about £2,000 worth of _pocket money_, I on the other hand literally work for my money."

Yet again Misaki acted carefree as usual, "Ah, it doesn't matter. I'm always here for you if you ever need cash, its fine. Mum and dad already consider you like their daughter so they were willing to give you the amount I get, but you _turned them down_!"

"I don't want to rely on other people for money. I want to use my own abilities!"

Misaki rolled her eyes, "You and the 'abilities' talk. Anyway we're moving off the subject. Just this once please do this." She looked up to Orihime with puppy-dog eyes. Orihime hated that move, she was weak against it. It was Misaki's secret weapon. Orihime held her breath trying to resist the look. "No." It was a strong start.

"Pwease!" This was Misaki's second secret weapon. The baby voice, just like Nel.

Orihime was weakening as she forced the next words out of her mouth, "N-no."

Then Misaki smirked and prepared to use her ultimate weapon that never failed. The puppy-dog tear works. Orihime absolutely couldn't refuse those eyes and she mumbled in defeat, "Fine."

"Yay!"

"But no Sake !" she snapped.

"Fine with me." The smirk on Misaki's face was less convincing.

"And nothing like drugs. You hear me!"

"Fine." The brunette folded her arms over her chest with a coy look on her face.

"What's the challenge then?"

Instantly Misaki began babbling it all out, wasting no time for hesitation, "If you can get a boy to like you within this week, I'll dump Grimmy before he dumps me."

Orihime raised an eyebrow, "You will?"

"I don't go back on my word."

"Any boy?"

"_Any boy_." Misaki repeated with emphasis. Orihime had a dodgy feeling about those two words. Changing the subeject to a different matter she asked

"But how will I know that he'll like me?"

"You won't." Misaki smiled. Orihime gave her a confused look. Misaki began to explain, "You won't know because you're inexperienced-"

"So what is the point of this bet!"

Misaki groaned, "You didn't let me finish." She shot Orihime an annoyed look. The auburn head mouthed her sorry and let her best friend continue. "You won't know, but _I will_."

Orihime's jaw dropped. "You can't cheat!" she cried out. If Misaki was judging she was bound to throw something in the mix.

"I won't. I'll be honest. _I promise_." She put a hand against her heart. Whenever she did that Orihime knew she meant it and it put her at ease. But this time there was an evil glint in her eyes.

"There's a jist to this, isn't there." It wasn't a question. More likely a statement.

Misaki tapped Orihime on her nose, "You, my friend, are correct!"

"Go on then…" Urging her best friend to continue.

Slowly Misaki phrased the next words together, carefully but slowly, "The boy has to be in the Espada class."

Orihime looked at her best friends, horrified. Misaki smirked at her friend's reaction. Orihime clutched her stomach to stop her from feeling sick. Two bet's within a day, both set for a week and one of them already seeming impossible. Life just wasn't fair.

* * *

><p>AN: We all know who's she gonna chose for Misaki's bet, don't we? *Smirking* Well, review. Oh, and if you were thinking 'Ruka' was a typo for 'Rukia' it isn't. Just another friend of Orihime's that I made up! Drama coming soon! REVIEW!


	3. I Chose You

**A/N: Hello people! ****I'm kind of missing this story so I decided to write a chapter to keep me satisfied, hopefully it'll keep you satisfied too so in the mean time enjoy as I will be very busy and the next update will come very late!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach...just this brilliant plot line - nah, I'm just boasting now...**

**All I want is this **

**Chapter 3 – I Choose You**

It was impossible. She couldn't do it but yet at that moment her mind had stupidly told her that it was possible and so she let the words of acceptance, towards the set challenge, flow out of her mouth. She'd never actually been in a relationship before so how exactly would she know what strings to pull?

Silently Orihime cursed towards herself with a hiss whilst hitting her now red forehead against a book, "Stupid, stupid Misaki…"

To get a boy was difficult and to make matters worse to get a boy from the Espada class was an even more psychotic idea than just to land herself a guy. Just thinking about trying to even hook up with someone was a sick thought. _Screw her bloody brilliant life…_

Throughout the whole of the next day Orihime had carefully planned out how to make things work to her advantage and things did not look good. Orihime knew she couldn't lose, if she did, well her best friend would end up with her heart broken. And if she won, _if _she won, her best friend would be in the safe zone once more and she wouldn't have to spend a day with someone bawling their eyes out on her shoulder, in her apartment with tubs of ice cream piled messily on the table and floor.

From the corner of the classroom Misaki could practically see her bestie begging silently for help and took that as an invitation to smirk in triumph, the only thing was Orihime never said she quit and so she hadn't won just yet. Until the princess surrendered the white flag, the bet wasn't over. For now she could date Grimmjow as much as she wanted.

The interval bell rang and the sound of chairs being pushed, books being packed up, bags being zipped and footsteps exiting the classroom followed shortly after the sharp trilling. Orihime made no move to neither pack away nor stand. Right now she was more or less fascinated with having her head against the desk to shield herself from the humiliation into looking into Misaki's eyes.

A palm slammed against the desk right beside her face. Orihime tilted her head to the side slightly and found her best friend…grinning again.

"What do you want Misaki?"

The brunette smiled coyly, "Just surrender and let me enjoy my life."

"Never."

Misaki removed her hand and crossed her arms across her chest as she seated herself comfortably against Orihime's desk, "So you'd rather try to land yourself a guy?"

"No, but if it means _you_ dumping the bloody jerk I'd gladly do so."

"Phfsh…Grimmjow can't be that bad! What has he done to make you…I dunno…loathe him so much?"

Orihime lifted her head, "Misaki. That boy is trouble. You heard the news this morning! He was caught_ fucking_ in the locker rooms!"

"That's only a misheard rumour. It wasn't fucking, it was groping. Mind you Kana is as much to blame for, she let him touch her!"

"And yet you wish he wouldn't look upon other women other than yourself." Orihime groaned.

"I- He…" Misaki's brow furrowed together in frustration as she tried to think of an excuse that could counteract Orihime's statement. Finally she gave up, "Fine! I do wish that, but boys will be boys and Grimmy's still pretty new around here! In time he'll fall for me."

Orihime groaned again and once again bashed her head against her book. _She just doesn't get it, does she…_

"Did you hear though?"

Orihime looked up to her best friend. She sensed some gossip coming along.

"Grimmy and the other transfer got into Espada class."

Instantly Orihime sat up straight in her chair, "What? You serious?"

"Yeah, Grimmy got the 6th place. The other one got the 4th place."

"The teachers can't find students with that much money that fast!"

Each Espada had fixated places. To get those places you had to have a certain amount of money. Espada number 1, Coyote Stark, had a figure around £91 million - £1 billion. This of course made him the richest student within the whole school and Espada class, only with him there was an exception. His half sister, Lilynette Gingerbuck, also partly shared the 1st Espada position. Orihime mentally started to calculate how much money was required to get the 6th and 4th position. To get 6th position you had to have £31 million - £50 million, that meant the 4th position was worth £61 million - £70 million. Her jaw unconsciously dropped upon realising who and what kind of people she was meddling with. _Fuck I'm screwed…_

"Well they did. I heard it wasn't that difficult. Apparently Mr Yamamoto has some close ties with these people." Misaki mused. Then she let out a sigh, "If only I were that rich…"

Orihime gawked at her, "Misaki! You're already rich! What more do you want?"

The brunette laughed, "I'm joking. Calm down."

Orihime slouched into her chair wearing an annoyed expression on her face. Misaki removed herself of Orihime's desk, "So, you want come and say hi to Grimmy?"

"No." Orihime replied sharply.

Misaki shrugged and turned to leave, "Suit yourself. I'll meet you at lunch break." Carefully she shut the door and then her footsteps disappeared down the hallway leaving the only present sound in the classroom the creaking of a chair as Orihime re-shifted her position and sat up straighter. She stared out the window and into the courtyard outside.

Coincidentally the Espada were making their way across it, catching her attention in an instant. She watched as Stark and Lilynette were the first in the line, followed by Emily Luisenbarn and Tia Harribel. Finally a group of boys caught her full attention. She sat up significantly straighter as she watched Nnoitra and Grimmjow punch each other in the arm before laughing as they pursued after Emily and Tia. Then her eyes drifted off to the other transfer student, Ulquiorra Schiffer. He was currently walking alongside Szayel – Aporro, the school's first professional teen scientist, who seemed to be deep in conversation with him.

Orihime frowned as she zoomed in on Ulquiorra's face alone. There was something about him that she couldn't put her finger on. As she questioned in her head what it could be she didn't notice that her eyes were skimming along every contour and detail of his face therefore spotting more flaws on his marble like skin that she hadn't noticed before from their introduction. Her eyes settled on the most striking of his features, his emerald green eyes. It was indescribable about how green they were. She'd never seen eyes like his before, sure Tia had green eyes but hers were like jade green, cloudier and paler than his.

His eyes then, unexpectedly, swivelled to meet hers, she froze; embarrassed she'd been caught watching him. Finding the inner strength she stood up from her chair making it seem like she was leaving. For a moment his eyes stayed locked onto hers and then when she was about to exit the class he tore his eyes away and continued his conversation with Szayel. Orihime exhaled in relief at the feeling of her heart pulse slowing down but she found herself wanting to watch him leave. It was then she decided that she needed to go to the library to calm her mind. Slowly she packed her bag and swung it over her shoulder. As she headed for the door she spared one last glance at him and then turned to leave.

**…**

Ulquiorra found himself fitting in well within his new school. His introduction towards the Espada had been successful and he had already befriended someone he thought would be useful in the future. Everything was how he was expecting it to be; however there was something nagging him constantly and it had turned out to be that _girl_, Orihime Inoue.

Their first introduction was somewhat intimidating but it had certainly left an unforgettable impression on him. He was fairly certain that she was feeling the same; just earlier on he had caught her watching him. It was fair to say that she was extremely attractive, much to his dislike, and she seemed fairly intelligent, if not slightly cocky, given by her attitude and status within the school.

He had to admit he had a fascination with her thus explaining why he'd taken on their little 'bet'. She was the first person to contradict his importance and she had also defended herself well against his remarks, so that very same day he had conducted a small investigation about her and had asked the Espada about her history. According to Tia, who was a close to one of Orihime's friends, she wasn't from a rich family background. Her family weren't exactly parent material either and so she had left them with her older brother, Sora, who was now in Korea with a successful singing career. She had suffered child abuse and it had led her to become the person she was now. Naturally being born intelligent and independent, she had enrolled herself into this academy and had passed the exams with a score of 99% which was later changed to 100% when she had corrected the examiners for marking a question wrong. After that she was given a free scholarship and moved on to become the school president. Her intelligence did not become unnoticed because soon after Mr Yamamoto had discussed with Mr Sōsuke, one of the Espada's personal teachers, that she deserved a special place in his class. She was offered the place as Espada 0 but had declined the offer stating she was fine the way she was.

After these events her popularity had been increased immensely and in the school prom she was voted 'queen' alongside with Ichigo Kurosaki who was voted 'king'.

So far this was all the information he had managed to gather. Since the academy was like a boarding school where pupils stayed in dorms he figured it wouldn't be too difficult to learn more about her.

"Yo Batman!"

Ulquiorra turned to Grimmjow, "What do you want now?"

"Me and Nnoitra are gonna hit on some fine foxes. Wanna come with?"

"No."

"What the hell you gonna do for the next coupla hours then?"

"Study." He replied monotonely before turning back to his book that he was reading.

Grimmjow grinned, "Oh I see! Yer studying so you beat that sugar babe and make her your own personal slave. Ain't that right?"

"Wrong."

"Listen there's no point in hiding it. What're ya studying for anyway? You'll easily thrash her by a mile. She don't look that smart."

"Don't under estimate people Jeagerjaques. I am merely studying for my own good rather than waste my time on people who are trash."

Grimmjow snickered, "Whatever you gay ass bat. Unlike you I actually have a life and a normal sexual orientation."

Ulquiorra didn't even bother replying. Annoyed Grimmjow left the class, "Bye then loser."

He slammed the door knowing Ulquiorra got pissed off when he did that. Though Ulquiorra's face remained monotone like, his left eye still twitched with annoyance, "Moron."

Ulquiorra had to confess though; he didn't exactly like to be alone and was already missing the presence of his retarded best friend. Sighing he closed his book and slid it into his bag. Then he left the classroom in search for a place that would help calm and clear his mind. As he walked down the hallway his presence didn't go unnoticed. The girls whispered excitedly to each other and those who had their backs turned on him abruptly turned around as not to miss catching a glance of him. As usual though, he ignored them despite the fact that they began to follow him, their whispers growing louder.

He turned a corner and headed down a flight of stairs, the crowd of stalking girls following close behind and attracting more of the female gender to follow. If he remembered correctly there was a secret passage that led to a library. Following his instincts he began to walk away quickly and until he assumed he was out of view he hid behind one of the marble pillars. As he stood still silently he waited until the frantic voices demanding where he'd gone, disappear down several directions. Once it was completely quiet apart from the sound of the water fountain outside the garden, he decided to come out from behind the pillar and continued to make his way towards the library. It wasn't long before the 50 metered height doors were in sight. It was hard to miss them judging from the elaborate wood carvings it had on, it gave it a grand look, something that appealed to him. Wasting no time he opened the door a fraction and slipped in like a fox, making sure he closed the door once inside. The lights were on but it didn't prevent the eeriness that came when you looked at the empty room and tall bookshelves standing there. The first time Ulquiorra had been here there was no one present but there were signs of human activity around in the recent hours before his visit. For an example he noticed that the kettle had been freshly boiled seeing as steam was pouring out from the spout of the kettle. There was also a half drunken tea sitting on the librarians desk, he had touched the cup and found it was still surprisingly warm.

Some voices from the very far corner of the room, possibly behind one of the bookshelves, broke his short flashbacks. He made no attempt to hide but decided to dodge out of view so he couldn't be seen; it also gave him the advantage to see who was around.

The voices became louder as it approached closer within his hearing range. He could make out an old ancient voice and then he heard a lighter airy voice reply back. The second voice rang a couple of bells in his head reminding him of someone and the image of the school president cropped back up into his mind. Without realising he found himself peering through the books to get a good look at these two people. He had to squint but could only make out the possessor of the first voice, an old lady barely taller than 4ft 8. Her hair was silvery grey and it was tied up in a tight but neat bun, her skin was wrinkled and her hand was perched upon a walking stick. Her back was slightly hunched and judging by the speed she walked he could tell that she was very old.

Though he could see the first figure he couldn't make out the second and only caught a glimpse of a black bag. He cursed and re-shifted his position in high hopes of being able to see better. It failed and his chance of repositioning himself had slipped away as the two figures were now walking off back from the same direction they came. Cautiously Ulquiorra followed, tactfully using the bookshelves as cover, if one didn't know better it seemed like spying. Finally the figures came to a halt as though they were stopping to admire the shelf of books in front of them. Ulquiorra could now see the back of both their heads. The second figure was around 5ft 2. Her hair was long and… auburn coloured and she was definitely a student as she was in a grey skirt and had her matching blazer on. Currently she was tip toeing with her hand outstretched towards one of the shelves; her fingers fumbled around before it grabbed a book and gracefully pulled it off the shelf.

Ulquiorra anticipated for the moment she turned around. He was vaguely sure of who it was. The school president beyond a doubt. The hair was hard to mistake. He watched as she flipped through the contents quickly before shaking her head and slotting the book back into the empty space it had left. She still hadn't turned around…much to his disappointment.

Finally the old women beside her spoke and then hurriedly left the library; the slamming of the great doors echoing into the room clarified it. Ulquiorra was still hesitant to make his next move, it would be her to move first. Then when she turned round, her auburn hair swishing gracefully over her shoulder, Ulquiorra found himself mesmerized by those silver orbs hidden beneath her long curly eyelashes. Everything was in slow motion, he watched as she blinked elegantly and then her eyes were fixed onto his.

The expression on her face became serious but there were traces of surprise. "Are you lost?" She asked. Ulquiorra stared at her, unable to release any words.

"Are you alright?" was the second question she asked.

Finally after pulling himself together he managed to form an average answer, "Perfectly normal."

She flinched a little, probably a little scared off by the tone in his voice or by the sudden realisation that he was talking, but then, much to his surprise she straightened up her back and puffed out her chest. "I heard you got the 4th position in Espada class."

"Indeed I did."

"Why are you here?"

He glanced down to her hand where she held a book titled Wuthering Heights. He assumed she was studying the English language and literature, "I am merely here for the same reasons you are."

She raised an eyebrow, "Oh? And what would that be?"

"I came here for peace and quiet in order to study in advance before the next exams."

She smirked, "Well, so-called-prodigy, shouldn't everything already be in your head? For a prodigy I'm expecting more."

"Oh it's in my head alright. I'm just learning other unnecessary extra information."

She snorted and rolled her eyes. As if that was going to get him somewhere…

Ulquiorra could guess what she was thinking. Boy was she in for a surprise. It became significantly awkward between the two and so he started off the conversation, "So, do you come here often?" This was the perfect chance to find out more about her.

Yet again she was startled by his soft question, "Erm, I guess you could say that."

He stood waiting for her to continue. Curse his luck to be with one of the non talkative girls! She was harder to unravel than expected.

Orihime could tell that he was waiting for her to continue and so she did, "The library is like a second home to me."

"What would be your first then?"

"Hmmm, my dorm."

He raised his brows, "What about your family home?" That was what a normal person would say, well everyone he knew said that.

She strolled over to the windows, her hands crossed behind her back as she stared into the blue cloudless sky, "I never really had a family home."

That caught his attention.

"You see, I spent most of my childhood moving from place to place. From country to country. I never really managed to settle down until I came here."

"I see. Why exactly were you moving around so much?"

Agilely she spun around, arms still crossed behind her back, "Sora never really liked to get attached to places."

_Sora, her brother. _"And you? Did you like this lifestyle?"

"I was young, I was curious and innocent. I never really understood what it was like to be attached to something and I guess travelling around so much was almost like a routine that I got used to it." She sighed. There was a sort of distance in that one sigh, like she missed it.

"What about your parents?"

"I never really knew them. Sora took me away. I've only seen them in pictures and was told that they were manipulative, evil and abusive people."

"And you believed whoever told you this rather than go and see for yourself?"

She frowned, "No. I wanted to see them myself but Sora was definitely telling the truth about them."

"How do you know?"

She didn't respond with an answer. Her head tilted lower towards the ground in shame.

Ulquiorra stood there, curious towards her reaction, "Well?"

"It's not something I'm proud of or something I would show."

"What?"

Before he could even dignify what had happen she had already shredded off her blazer which now lay in a clump beside her feet on the floor. She began unbuttoning her shirt, his jaw dropped. _What the hell is she doing?_

After done with unbuttoning, Orihime tossed her shirt aside. She stood in the room wearing only a bra as the item of clothing at the top half of her body.

"What are you doing?"

Again she didn't answer, instead she spun around with her back facing towards him and then he understood why she did that. On her back there were several pinkish faint scars that stretched across her snow white skin. Some overlapped others and some were larger in size. It was like a cross maze of twigs. Ulquiorra felt a pang of guilt upon seeing this sight. How could someone so beautiful and pure, be treated so savagely?

Moment after setting himself upon the horrendous sight, Orihime finally turned around to face him again. She saw the expression on his face but her expression in return was calm and in a way…happy.

Ulquiorra was shocked that she could still smile after something which was surely unforgettable, "How can you smile like that?"

"Well I can't really complain. I mean…I don't remember it happening to me."

"You don't?"

"No. I really should be glad that I don't. Sora told me he took me to hospital several times." She paused and upon realising she was topless in the library with a boy she barely knew. Furthermore the school president was meant to be the only sensible person in this school!

Sprinting over to her shirt and blazer she hastily put them back on, a recognisable blush appearing on her cheeks which humoured Ulquiorra slightly. Finally after she was done she gave her shirt one last tug from the bottom and scooped up her school bag, "I-I have to go to a council meeting." Orihime began to walk for the door when she dropped something small. She turned around to pick it up but Ulquiorra had gotten there before she could bend down. He stared at the object in between his fingers. It was a small platinum chain bracelet. At the base he could see a small silver bell attached to it and in very small curly handwriting was the phrase _'To Orihime, with love…'_. Then he held out the bracelet for her to take. She blushed softly as their hands made contact, "Thank you." Her hands slowly closed around the small chain and then she left, closing the door carefully. Ulquiorra was still on one knee down against the floor. He brought his hand slowly up to his lips smiling as he did so.

**…**

"Wait! You took of your shirt! Why the hell did you do that?"

Orihime bit her lip, "I just don't know what came over me…" She fumbled with the hem of her skirt nervously as her best friend seemed like she was scolding her. "Sora's going to kill me if he hears about this."

Secretly, Misaki was actually wishing she'd been there to see the whole incident. Never, had her best friend done something this _outrageous_! Damn, where was she when rare things happened? Barely able to contain her excitement she started squealing much to Orihime's surprise, "I'm so _proud_ of you!"

"_Huh_?" She was half expecting her BF to break out into a fit of anger but then again, Misaki was in a way, perverted.

"Who cares what Sora will think? So, was there any kissing involved?"

"Misaki!" Orihime wailed.

"Who was it?"

"Misaki!"

"What? I'm just curious! Come on! Tell me! This is the first time you've done something impulsive! It must be someone _HOT_!"

Orihime leapt over to cover her friend's mouth and looked around to make sure no one was listening. Then she released the brunette, "Shhhhhh! If the teachers hear about this I'm screwed as fuck!"

Misaki snorted and waved her hand dismissively, "No one's gonna hear except for the little birdies in the sky…What's there to be worried about?"

"You're so oblivious Misaki."

"So what? No one's gonna care. Now tell me! Who is this boy?"

Sighing she gave up trying to fight a battle she knew she wouldn't win anyway, "Promise me you won't tell."

"I promise, I promise…"

"I mean it! I don't want word to get out that I did this!"

"I _promise_ alright!"

Orihime exhaled slowly, "It was the transfer student."

Misaki squealed, "Grimmy's best friend?"

"Yeah."

"He is a looker! Well done!" Misaki thumped Orihime's back as a to congratulate her.

Orihime scoffed, "What's there to be proud of? I just didn't know what came over me! He probably thinks of me as some kind of slut!"

"Girl, you're pretty stupid when it comes to compatibility and recognising the signs."

"What gives you the right to call me stupid?" Orihime replied indignantly, slightly offended by her best friends remark. She never called Misaki stupid even though she wasn't the brightest of girls in the class. Not to mention this was way off topic…

"Don't get me wrong. You're incredibly smart and think logically. But you're really dense when it comes to finding a partner." The brunette pointed out.

"What's this got to do with the transfer student?"

"He likes you."

Orihime snorted, "Yeah right. How would you know? We've just met and you barely know him. How can you base it from what I've just told you?" Orihime waved her hands and mumbled quietly, "Next you'll be saying things like the school's offering places in Espada class to random people."

Misaki ignored her second remark, "One. If a guy likes you'll he'll respect you."

"When has he done that?"

"You stripped."

"And?"

"Any guy wouldn't want to miss a chance to get a body like that in their bed." She pointed at Orihime's chest to which the auburn hair slapped away her best friend's hand blushing furiously. "I'm surprised he didn't just screw you."

"So because he didn't touch me, you think he respects me? Hasn't it ever occurred to you that if you've just known someone less than 24 hours then it'd be normal for no feelings to develop?"

"Ah, but what guy would initiate a conversation. He started it and you ended it. If a guy _doesn't _like you it should be the _other_ way round."

"It was a coincidence!"Orihime wailed desperately. Her best friend made some really good points. Another reason to take into consideration when she was examined on debating.

"You said he wanted to know about your past. Any guy who likes you will want to know."

"I- he- Gah!" Orihime covered her ear, "It's all nonsense! I'm not going to listen to your rubbish!"

Misaki chuckled. "He likes you." She repeated. Orihime blushed again and shifted her head lower so her friend wouldn't notice even though she knew Misaki wasn't that stupid. The brunette leaned over to whisper in her best friend's ear, "And I'm sure you've taken quite a liking to him yourself."

"I have not!"

"Your face turns red when I say he likes you."

Orihime tightened the hold on her ears miserably as she brought her knees to her chin. Sometimes Misaki was a jerk.

"Perhaps this is the guy that's destined to help you break me and Grimmjow up."Misaki mused. "You're quite compatible as well."

Orihime glanced up to her best friend who was grinning menacingly. She hated that suggestive grin, but it got her thinking. Perhaps Misaki was right. Ulquiorra was in Espada class and he wasn't that bad. Tonight she'd have a deeper think about it, not that she wanted to take it into serious consideration. It could be like a onetime crush and that'll be it. There would be no strings attached and there wouldn't be any serious romance. Problem two was just about to be solved; she smiled inwardly ignoring her best friend's taunts in the background. _Ulquiorra Schiffer…I choose you…_

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Say here's something to think on. Monday 23rd January is Chinese New Year, the Year of the Dragon. If you do your research well, you reckon Orihime's Chinese Zodiac sign will match Ulquiorra's Chinese Zodiac sign? Even if they don't match, I wouldn't care cause I know these two are a great couple anyway! Ulquihime rocks! See you soon and keep reviewing, favouriting and alerting! Happy Chinese New Year (Gōng Xǐ Fā Cái _or _Kung Hey Fat Choy).**


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